Phil Stevens :tinoflag:

he/him
vi/vim
Vintage 319 ppm CO2
#biochar
#realIntelligence

Musician since the beginning, oddball, techie luddite, biochar entrepreneur/evangelist, MMT proponent, deep green, outspoken, cantankerous af neurodivergent.

Life goal: to see billionaires go extinct.

Tolerance is a social contract.

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phil_stevens@mastodon-nz.mostr.pub

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relay.damus.io

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Last Notes

2026-05-11 00:30:54 UTC

Sysadmin question: Has anyone out in fedi land found how Isentia scrapes online content? User agent identifiers, etc.

2026-05-07 03:24:34 UTC

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@nprofile…f4xa About 30% of our electorate is likely to fall for that.
But I don't think this particular can is able to be kicked that far into the future.

2026-05-03 01:14:54 UTC

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@nprofile…lhv6 I would propose locusts for the ones that arrive in swarms.

2026-04-30 05:46:03 UTC

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@nprofile…kt0j And not a single "backups were airgapped and only pulled from prod, impossible to push."

2026-04-29 20:04:58 UTC

It's pretty damn difficult to have a worldview of radical abundance when scarcity is all around.

2026-04-28 21:34:56 UTC

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@nprofile…49eq Yes, this is something I despise as well. They need a menu option: "press 9 to be subjected to excruciatingly poor audio that might have been music at some point in its tormented existence."

2026-04-23 21:08:00 UTC

For decades, NZ pastoral systems were described by agronomists worldwide as a "miracle"...temperate climate, decent soils, and ample rainfall meant that a farmer could keep a pasture in permanent cover with a mix of ryegrass and clover, and get a profitable yield of milk, meat, and fibre by grazing stock outdoors year round without any off-farm inputs. It was sustainable (if you ignore the fact that much of the land was stolen) and provided the basis for a thriving export trade as well as feeding a growing nation.
The humble clover plant was the key to all of this, with its symbiotic rhizobial bacteria happily taking atmospheric nitrogen in and turning it into soluble nitrates at just enough of a rate to feed the grasses. As long as you didn't overstock or abuse the soil through poor management, the system could keep ticking over indefinitely, with maybe a bit of seaweed or rock dust from time to time to top up the mineral levels.
Of course, capitalism had to wreck all of that. As dairy intensification became the trend in the 1990s, industrial farming was the model and synthetic fertilisers, especially urea, began to dominate and push out clover from pasture mixes. And as any junkie knows, the first hit may be free but every one after that costs more.
Now we have a sector addicted to nitrogen, mainlining stuff shipped halfway around the globe and turning its back on the leakage into groundwater and rivers. The excess nitrogen also "burns up" soil carbon stocks and decreases microbial diversity along with the resilience of the grass. And the feed quality of the pasture goes down, turning to the equivalent of junk food and causing metabolic imbalances in the animals that eat it...most current-day dairy farmers have never seen cow shit that isn't liquid.
So maybe the crisis in the Middle East is a blessing in disguise. Just like it's supercharging transition around the world, maybe it will catalyse some major changes here. #biochar #regen
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU2604/S00394/biochar-can-help-farmers-weather-the-fertiliser-crisis.htm

2026-04-23 20:28:11 UTC

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@nprofile…g0sh So many IPOs depend on this maxim.

2026-04-23 02:39:01 UTC

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@nprofile…5w5c Ed Zitron often goes digging for this stuff and he almost always says nope.

2026-04-22 22:57:52 UTC

One of my favourite things about rainy spells in autumn is the profusion of weird fungi. These popped up the other day, and so did a bunch of basket fungus.
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/116/450/816/875/000/874/original/be49a02239ea9d24.jpg

2026-04-22 09:34:57 UTC

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@nprofile…hq00 I dunno...it would be a nice start, I guess. They've got a long list to start working through.

2026-04-22 05:59:27 UTC

So, here is what South Korea (one of our main suppliers of refined oil products) is doing in response to the Middle East situation.
Hint: It's nothing like what we're doing. We have truly got the most incompetent, feckless, drooling bunch of craven slaves to ideology running the place and boy does it show. The North Korea of the South Pacific.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/16/south-korea-solar-power-renewables-revolution

2026-04-21 07:32:48 UTC

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@nprofile…8d6j A little. I'm kinda brassed off at their age verification nonsense but they haven't rolled it out to me yet so I'm still on it. It's my main mode of comms to my kids, so I don't want to get rid of it.

2026-04-21 06:43:06 UTC

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@nprofile…8d6j I'll miss you. Also I'm hanging out to see the boat through to completion.

2026-04-20 20:56:04 UTC

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@nprofile…49eq If I'm ever required to enter details, I will be Ricardo Cabeza, born 1970-01-01.

2026-04-20 07:04:57 UTC

We're putting real, definitive advances in tech on hold so that some ketamine-addled billionaires can have a financial circle jerk.

2026-04-20 05:45:20 UTC

I've already reduced my personal footprint.
I don't do business with billionaires. I deleted my accounts with all the social media sites, shut down my AWS instances, and moved my Kiwisaver out of all US equities.
How much impact has any of this had on CO2 levels in the atmosphere?
Sweet.
Fuck.
All.
The only we turn this thing is to change the system, and the only way we do that is with radical accountability for everyone who profits from our collective misery.
Don't tell me to take individual action. I've been doing that most of my adult life and I can see the results. I'm taking names.

2026-04-17 23:44:35 UTC

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@nprofile…td4u I've known Nathan for years and his head is definitely screwed on correctly.

2026-04-13 08:50:52 UTC

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@nprofile…xpag That's a really unflattering photo of the billionaire vampire. I thought all that child blood was supposed to keep him youthful and shit. He looks like he's circling the drain.

2026-04-12 20:35:14 UTC

Let's see if I've got this right:
0. In the beginning, the Strait of Hormuz was open and free to transit, and it was good.
1. Fascist superpower launches unprovoked and unlawful act on Iran.
2. Iran exerts control of the strait, blocking key shipping lanes.
3. Global economy, hyperdependent on cheap and readily available fossil fuels, goes into panic mode.
4. Fascist superpower realises it's made a boo-boo and badly wants the strait open again.
5. Ceasefire declared and Iran reopens the strait, albeit under conditions.
6. Fascist superpower doesn't like the conditions, so it blockades the strait.
7. Global economy says WTAF dude?
I cannot for the life of me see how any of this plays out in favour of the fascist superpower.

2026-04-12 19:52:48 UTC

Of course, if we made all of it free then the cost and complexity of payment systems would go away. Public transport is already an expenditure (a worthwhile one) and fares don't come anywhere close to operating expenses.

2026-04-09 22:34:00 UTC

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@nprofile…xypt Would love to but I'm on the wrong island and Sunday looks to be a bit dicey weather wise. Should be great down there, though.

2026-04-09 21:53:08 UTC

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@nprofile…xypt Is this the site where they cleared all that contorta pine a few years ago?

2026-04-07 20:22:10 UTC

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@nprofile…0z4m With zero safeguards or protections of data sovereignty, I presume.

2026-04-03 19:49:20 UTC

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@nprofile…9g8s Given the unique status of the orange stain as someone who lost money owning a casino, it stands to reason that this and insider trading are the means his crowd has chosen to institutionalise plunder.

2026-04-02 01:15:49 UTC

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@nprofile…pg4v You really couldn't ask for a worse person in that role. Brown simply does not measure up, and once again the country has been shortchanged

2026-03-31 08:01:36 UTC

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P.S. Now would be a really good time to accelerate your transition to clean energy, too. XOX

2026-03-31 07:50:06 UTC

Dear nations of the world: If you're salty about #Ukraine blowing up Russian oil infrastructure, that says to me that you're PART OF THE FUCKING PROBLEM.
Don't buy stuff from genocidal warmongers and support their genocidal warmongering. End of.

2026-03-30 01:57:35 UTC

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@nprofile…pg4v But the troops could destroy the terminal infrastructure and cause yet more self-inflicted damage to the fossil economy.

2026-03-29 19:18:16 UTC

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@nprofile…8d6j I'm coping with the fruit glut* by taking lots to our local pātaka kai. Also drying heaps of apples because they keep forever.
*exception to this: feijoas

2026-03-29 19:04:41 UTC

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@nprofile…kxuf Got chickens?

2026-03-29 19:01:29 UTC

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@nprofile…8d6j I've been gradually upping my onion game. I grow a few red ones for slicing, and I'm trying to increase the brown harvest (not easy).
What has come through for me, though, is the humble walking onion. More of a shallot, keeps better than brown, and grows like the proverbial weed.

2026-03-28 07:41:17 UTC

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@nprofile…kxuf Nice and round. That takes a bit of skill.

2026-03-28 07:13:47 UTC

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@nprofile…cnd4 The monks inside are doing Pythagorean chants.

2026-03-28 00:16:06 UTC

Compare this (admittedly suboptimal) experience to what it's like to be trapped in a plane on the tarmac for three hours because of a major snafu at the terminal. Yep, I did that once at DFW and it was unpleasant. They ran out of water, snacks, and paper towels, and somehow the flight attendants still treated everyone nicely (even the handful of people who started acting like dicks).
Trains rock. And roll.

2026-03-27 19:52:07 UTC

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@nprofile…eqsh An entire civilisation is about to find the pod bay doors are shut.

2026-03-27 19:48:34 UTC

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@nprofile…t0wy @nprofile…xypt I'm waiting for the feasibility study on a cable ferry powered by the immense tidal currents.

2026-03-27 19:46:46 UTC

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@nprofile…xypt Congratulations. My mouthful of coffee nearly ended up across the room.

2026-03-27 19:36:19 UTC

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@nprofile…0z4m They're just reinforcing the weak-to-lacking leadership vibe with this approach.

2026-03-27 19:28:52 UTC

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@nprofile…unhv I had to ditch Google Authenticator a few years back when it would not allow me to move to a different phone. If I use a 2FA solution, I need to have some confidence in the vendor or control the underlying mechanism.

2026-03-27 19:24:40 UTC

Madeleine Chapman did it again. 20/10, only a couple of clangers, and even the comments are worth reading:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/kai/27-03-2026/all-170-chip-flavours-in-new-zealand-ranked-from-worst-to-best

2026-03-27 19:23:20 UTC

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@nprofile…2uej Does the Pahiatua railcar still run for nostalgia's sake? I should know the answer to this because it would go past us.

2026-03-27 06:15:48 UTC

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@nprofile…2e2r I've been shouting this from the rooftops for ages...it also reduces our CO2 emissions for the win.

2026-03-27 06:10:58 UTC

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@nprofile…pp76 Leveraging core competencies all the way down to bottom of the cliff.

2026-03-27 00:17:30 UTC

About as useless as what I expected from the incompetent lackeys. Folding under pressure.
Sober assessments of the damage to Gulf infrastructure are pointing to a 1/3 reduction in supply coming from that region with 2-3 years required to rebuild.
And that's if nothing else gets blown up.

2026-03-26 23:53:52 UTC

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@nprofile…xpw3 I stayed with some friends last month when I travelled to the South Island for a festival. One of them told me all about how he's gone all in on vibe coding. The thing that struck me most was how he described the cognitive burden of wrangling the various agents when he was doing a "session" lasting 5-6 hours in a typical case.
He said after he wrapped up each time, he was utterly spent and couldn't do anything requiring focus for the remainder of the day. Didn't sound much like a net positive to me, especially since he's still attempting to vet the code and integrate it himself.

2026-03-26 23:44:40 UTC

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@nprofile…2uej Mind you, there's still steam if we really needed a boostrap energy source. Mackwell has a clean biomass boiler that can run on slash.
https://mackwell.co.nz

2026-03-26 23:42:11 UTC

'With economic forecasts being downgraded, is this a wartime-style crisis where business and government need to work together in a new way? “Absolutely, yes,” Jones says.'
The trucking industry and fuel distributors are in complete accordance that we need extraordinary measures, and every day we wait makes the consequences worse.
But Luxon and his string-pullers have yet to show up with anything more than platitudes, homages to individual choice, and wishful thinking.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/26/truckies-worry-as-diesel-slows-to-a-trickle/

2026-03-26 23:38:27 UTC

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@nprofile…0z4m That will keep me from using them for a bit longer, I suppose.

2026-03-26 23:37:24 UTC

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@nprofile…sywy I do this sort of thing for people from time to time. What I like to do is start with a load profile to establish demand, because a lot of them are looking at off-grid systems. You're grid-tied so demand's not the driver. So we look at what sort of supply is realistic.
What does your roof look like and are there any trees or other buildings close by in the E,N,W quadrants?

2026-03-26 23:32:34 UTC

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@nprofile…cun7 It's not as if there's a way to use magic like sunlight, you know.

2026-03-26 09:28:43 UTC

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@nprofile…lkqc Like clockwork.

2026-03-26 07:00:12 UTC

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@nprofile…9tgn Same, and I would say it's been mine for a while now.

2026-03-26 06:22:12 UTC

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@nprofile…srmn They also want to remove other mission fundamentals, like honouring Te Tiriti, ensuring accessibility, countering disinfo, and harm reduction.

2026-03-26 02:42:18 UTC

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@nprofile…xpag @nprofile…y50c @nprofile…a8pz one could say the same about a country....

2026-03-25 23:42:51 UTC

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@nprofile…m6w0 That seems like a pretty major oversight. DHCP only, too, so forget about putting them into a DMZ.

2026-03-25 23:25:43 UTC

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@nprofile…y50c @nprofile…a8pz It's always a good idea to keep the legacy system in place.
If you've got one.
I saw a farm not too long ago that had no interior fencing whatsoever. None. For bulls. So if their internet (or the Halter subscription) ever goes wonky, that will be a lot of fun sorting out. 🤡

2026-03-25 23:18:10 UTC

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@nprofile…pp76 Briscoe's has given me low-grade ick for years. Now I'll just not go there. Fixed.

2026-03-25 19:37:31 UTC

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@nprofile…us5p Flip to TPW mode to see the atmospheric rivers. Then go to Ocean -> SST for the heat sources.

2026-03-25 19:36:44 UTC

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@nprofile…yzxf That only shows that the numpties at Treasury don't understand how fiat currency even works.

2026-03-25 19:35:54 UTC

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@nprofile…0z4m Edit to add: "If you're older, Pākeha, own several properties, and have ties to the fossil energy, mining, or fishing sectors. Bonus points if you deny scientific consensus based on evidence."

2026-03-25 19:25:26 UTC

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@nprofile…a8pz Ve notice that Old Macdonald has made remarks about Herr Kommisar. Vould be a shame if his cows wandered over to Nigel's farm....

2026-03-25 19:18:01 UTC

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@nprofile…mqr3 Welcome to the unitary executive, a figleaf for monarchy that was ostensibly the foundation of the republic.

2026-03-25 19:13:41 UTC

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@nprofile…jjdu I don't think we talk enough about how the algorithm is deployed to affect users' mental health.

2026-03-25 18:17:26 UTC

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@nprofile…a8pz I used to think Halter was pretty neat, but then they went all in on the slopification. I'm also not a fan of farm management systems that depend on remote servers...connectivity falters and your stock are everywhere they're not supposed to be.

2026-03-25 18:14:29 UTC

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@nprofile…t3ug never mind who started it

2026-03-25 18:12:05 UTC

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@nprofile…2uej There's also a connection to Wairarapa linking up at Woodville. Railcars are the obvious way to run passenger services where demand is lower.

2026-03-25 18:09:12 UTC

Not only does Aotearoa have to contend with yet another extreme weather system drawing its energy from an overheated Pacific, but has anyone been following the path of Narelle? I swear that puppy is looking like an emergent consciousness and saying "I wanna see if I can affect the whole coastline of Oz."

2026-03-25 17:41:00 UTC

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@nprofile…d60a Surely someone is keeping a list of the victorious conclusions.

2026-03-25 17:39:57 UTC

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@nprofile…l70y Iran's refutation of the so-called negotiations.

2026-03-25 06:44:30 UTC

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@nprofile…9s4q The whole franchise, along with its grotesque creator, is dead to me.

2026-03-25 06:42:12 UTC

Good evening! What's your fave #AngineDePoitrine song today? Mine's ABABA HOTEL. It might be tomorrow as well. That is the most infectious 7/4 groove in fucking existence.
https://youtu.be/AHbdYT8U_r4?list=RDAHbdYT8U_r4&t=2675

2026-03-25 06:37:49 UTC

Glad to help make the case for Waka Kotahi walking back National's asinine speed limit increases. But the submissions website is broken.
https://nzta.govt.nz/safety/driving-safely/speed/state-highway-speed-management/speed-limit-reviews-under-the-2024-rule/targeted-speed-limit-reviews-manawatu-whanganui-region

2026-03-25 05:56:02 UTC

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@nprofile…5mvz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ES00DLNcXA

2026-03-25 04:03:41 UTC

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@nprofile…fh5u Give me a hundy and I will tell you on any given night the best place to dine so as not to bump into either of these bellends.

2026-03-25 02:29:44 UTC

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@nprofile…je7u Oooh, green poutine. While listening to Angine de Poitrine.

2026-03-25 00:26:01 UTC

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@nprofile…l70y This pesky little fact does not change the immense profits a group of insider traders just made. They'll sell before the markets react.

2026-03-25 00:21:05 UTC

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@nprofile…2pcx Relatable.

2026-03-25 00:09:30 UTC

Saag paneer, only with halloumi instead. #fusionCuisine

2026-03-24 21:55:03 UTC

Good top-level analysis and spot on with respect to the fact that markets will only make the problem worse (like they already have).
However, I tend to rate Trenberth highly but was gobsmacked that an atmospheric scientist would suggest that small wind turbines mounted on residential roofs are a good idea from an ROI standpoint. They're really, emphatically not, unless you live on a ridgeline with no other trees or buildings nearby. And in that case, the noise transmitted into your living quarters will drive you around the bend and make you wish you had put the thing on a tower like normal people do.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/25/nzs-energy-dependence-wont-be-solved-by-the-private-sector/

2026-03-24 20:56:25 UTC

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@nprofile…45lt It's the low hanging fruit of disinfo. Even if our entire grid was fossil generation, it would still make sense to drive EVs on energetic, economic, and climate grounds.
But we all know that facts never sway the trolls and haters.

2026-03-24 20:43:44 UTC

If only they had teamed up that sweet helicopter money with some wealth taxes.
They could even describe it as "revenue neutral" for the punters and pundits who are too thick too understand that govts don't need taxes in order to spend. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, I guess.

2026-03-24 20:41:12 UTC

Of all the no-brainers out there, this is one. We could at least add a small incentive to EV use with the stroke of a ministerial pen.

2026-03-24 20:16:27 UTC

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@nprofile…0z4m How many of these have weapons installed, and are the targeting systems autonomous? Who gets sued if one of them makes a mistake?

2026-03-24 20:14:55 UTC

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@nprofile…szhx Congratulations and well done!

2026-03-24 20:10:33 UTC

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@nprofile…xpw3 I just pray that the bubble bursts before the build in Invercargill is underway.

2026-03-24 20:01:55 UTC

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@nprofile…td4u Does the script include a fuel shock at any point?

2026-03-24 19:54:28 UTC

As I rode my bike past the recycling dropoff station yesterday, there was a woman unloading her SUV. The engine was running as she worked. So that "individual choice" framework of behavioural change is working as most of us would have predicted.
There is probably only 11 days' supply of petrol confirmed in the country, with a few more weeks' topup on the way. After that we are pretty likely to get a Dear John letter from one or more suppliers.
But there's no messaging, no leadership coming from the Beehive. No admission that the trajectory they put us on made us that much more vulnerable to the intense level of disruption that is about to hit, and no bold announcement of concrete steps to cut our dependence. I think voters will see through it and turf them out for their gross mismanagement, but we have six months of this shitshow to endure until that happens. #NZPol
https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/24/the-three-tankers-that-hold-nzs-last-confirmed-oil-supplies/

2026-03-23 19:12:35 UTC

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@nprofile…xpw3 I've pretty much stopped buying fish altogether and would be happy to let the industry die of its own greed and corruption if this keeps up. I wish I had the lifestyle to support going to the beach and sending out a kontiki with a longline every now and then.

2026-03-23 18:45:59 UTC

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@nprofile…pg4v And they are still applying the neoliberal filters to every business case. All the dozens of climate and energy security efforts that they scrapped only become relevant when a crisis shows that they were good policy on their own merits.

2026-03-23 06:33:58 UTC

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@nprofile…grvd @nprofile…d8tx From the corporation that gave us backward slashes as path delimiters. Forever may they burn for that as well.

2026-03-23 04:51:15 UTC

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@nprofile…e8mx Yes...at least when it is done well it can really lift things.

2026-03-23 04:49:07 UTC

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@nprofile…kpvg I was in Tokoroa and Putāruru on the weekend and man, talk about hollowed out. Not quite zombie towns but it's not a lively vibe.

2026-03-23 04:00:19 UTC

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@nprofile…8d6j Does it ever.

2026-03-23 03:59:37 UTC

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@nprofile…pg4v Evidently so.

2026-03-23 02:58:04 UTC

We're at least a week past the point where a serious PM (one with actual leadership qualities) would have stood in front of the cameras, looked us all in the eye, and said that things could very likely get dicey quickly and we need to make some big adjustments.
Instead, we are hearing "la la la individual choice everything is fine five weeks of supply" and the gormless finance minister goes on a photo op to the tank farm at Marsden Point. And they still won't back down from the plan to waste billions building a stranded asset to import LNG from the bombed-out Qatari producers, nor will they condemn the illegal military strikes that precipitated the whole mess we're in.
What an absolute bunch of incompetent and corrupt idiots. They can't get any worse at this stage. #NZPol

2026-03-23 02:50:08 UTC

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@nprofile…e8mx I have been (virtually) to several Aussie conferences where they started off with a welcome to country. But yeah, nothing to kick off meetings.

2026-03-23 02:48:06 UTC

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@nprofile…pg4v Wankers with tankers.

2026-03-23 00:46:52 UTC

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@nprofile…52ur @nprofile…fh5u Which MPs' partners would be running these companies?

2026-03-22 22:48:43 UTC

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@nprofile…0ymw Honestly, the only thing that would improve that song is Ron Burgundy on the jazz flute.